Тейлор Поттер и философский виал / Taylor Potter and the Philosophical Vial: Тейлор Поттер и Тайное Измерение Глава 1. Дурсли и Уизли

Chapter 1. Dursleys and Weasleys
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Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 18:26

July 31, 2022, Little Bay

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 18:31

Fireflies danced and swirled, spelling out "Happy Birthday, Taylor!" Beneath them, moths, butterflies, flies, and dragonflies mimicked a giant cake with twelve candles. It was all Taylor could do because the Dursleys weren't planning on celebrating her birthday. At all. Friends didn't write, call, or visit, as if they'd forgotten that Taylor Potter, the Girl Who Lived, existed. And the emails Taylor sent seemed to vanish into obscurity: no replies, no error messages.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 18:32

Nothing.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 18:32

She felt her mother Sophia, and mother Emma, approaching, and sighed softly, not allowing any hope to arise that she would be congratulated. If Taylor had real parents, they would undoubtedly have congratulated their daughter and bought her a huge cake and everything else, but alas, they died in a car accident when Taylor was only a year old.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:55

The door to Taylor's room swung open as if someone was trying to break it down.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:56

"So!" Sophia Dursley, a muscular, athletically built black woman, pointed her finger at Taylor as if she was going to pierce her.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:58

Taylor recoiled involuntarily, her glasses slipped off, and Sophia instantly became a blur of black. A pink blur joined the black blur, which, after she put the glasses back on, transformed into Emma Dursley, a beauty and model whose looks and figure Taylor, let's face it, secretly envied. Potter considered herself skinny, awkward, with overly long arms and legs, an overly wide mouth, and unkempt hair, and there was no one to explain to her that this was normal for a child entering adolescence.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 09:50

“Important people will come today,” Sophia continued in a threatening tone, “and we will discuss an important matter.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:59

"Mom's going to be on TV!" squealed Madison, Emma and Sophia's daughter and Taylor's cousin, sticking her head out from behind her parents.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 22:00

"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 22:01

"None of your business!" Sophia Dursley snapped. "You don't come to dinner, you don't leave your room, you don't disgrace us with your appearance, you sit quietly and do NOTHING. Is that clear to you?"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 09:51

She stroked Emma Dursley's shoulder affectionately, looking at his wife adoringly, then turned to Taylor, her expression changing from amorous to fierce. Potter, realizing what was going on, sighed softly and bowed her head.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 09:52

"I got it."

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:39

There was no doubt that if she ruined "Aunt Emma's" modeling contract, that was it. Just that, no further clarification or additions.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 22:02

That evening, Taylor lay bored on her bed, rereading her intrigue textbook from last year. "The rate of spread of rumors, given a normal distribution of villains, is defined as the ratio..." and Taylor couldn't help but yawn. As much of a jerk as Thomas Snape was as a person, he told all this much more vividly and interestingly. Then the tablet vibrated and twitched. The pages of the textbook gave way to an image of a cartoonish, misshapen head with an elongated nose and ears, and tufts of hair sticking out in all directions. Under the head was writing.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:24

\\"Don't go anywhere!"

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:40

The next second, the Dursleys' house went crazy. The climate control system cranked up the heat as if it were the dead of winter, the televisions flickered through channels, the stereo system switched to some modern pop that sounded like the howls of a hungry cat, everything beeped and chirped, announcing something, the printers spat out printouts of obscene images, and even the modest mailpad at the entrance began babbling like a deranged parrot, announcing the receipt of at least a hundred letters every second.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:28

The bedlam was crowned by an alarm siren, howling from somewhere above, as if a war had begun.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:28

This time, the door simply flew off its hinges. Behind the enraged Sophia stood Emma Dursley, drenched and covered in something, pitiful and dejected, frustrated to the point of being completely incapable of doing anything. All Taylor's attempts to explain that it wasn't her, that her superpower had nothing to do with it, that she hadn't done anything at all, were in vain, drowned out by the thunderous peals of obscenities spewed by Aunt Sophia.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:29

"An eye for an eye!" She growled, tired of swearing.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:48

A strong blow burned Taylor's face, then a knee slammed into her stomach, and more blows to her ribs, to her back, to her head.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:48

"That's for the physical harm!" Sophia shouted from above. "And for the emotional harm, you'll be arrested in the basement! And you won't come out until you make amends!"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:49

Taylor didn't understand how she could make amends without leaving the basement, but there was no point in explaining now. She was knocked down and dragged by the scruff of her neck into the basement, tossed there like a naughty kitten.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:39

Lying on the old, smelly, hard mattress she'd found in the corner, Taylor sobbed with frustration. She could feel Aunt Emma sobbing just like her upstairs, and Sophia comforting her, stroking, rubbing, and kissing her. There was no one to comfort her, and that made the hurt doubly worse, so she continued to cry and sob.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:50

Just when Taylor was in despair and about to give up — the metal-clad door and window bars were defying her efforts, neither hers nor the insects' — she felt something. It was as if one of her insects had decided to take pity on her and was sending her a comforting impulse. Then, a whisper came from outside.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:50

"I'm telling you for sure, she's right here!"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:51

"Amy?!" Taylor asked with a wild, flaring hope, managing to suppress her scream in time and replace it with a whisper.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:51

Amy Weasley, her best friend and classmate, is here! All is not lost!

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:52

"And not only that," came the answer. "Come on, Eric!"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 10:56

The bars of the grate began to be squeezed by a force field, but they immediately stopped. The field was working, but the bars, slipping out of their sockets, creaked so loudly they could have woken the entire town. There was a murmur outside, then a laser beam appeared, beginning to burn through the bars. They hissed and heated up, the beam cutting through the bars, but slowly, and Taylor clenched her teeth and fists in anticipation. At any moment, the Dursleys could wake up and... do something. Taylor didn't know what, but she didn't expect anything good after today's events. Before this, in the past six weeks, everything had been relatively tolerable. The Dursleys were a little afraid of Taylor's superpowers, even if they didn't show it, but breaking the contract?

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 13:59

"What are you messing around about?" Another voice, unfamiliar to Taylor, came from outside. "Get it to me!"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 12:58

"Victoria, don't!" Amy cried, but it was too late.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 14:10

With a crash and a bang, a section of the wall with the bars crashed into the basement, and Taylor barely managed to jump out of the way. Glowing, shining like a beacon in the night, Victoria Weasley, Amy's younger sister, punched a hole in the wall and let out a joyful whoop.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 14:10

"Taylor! I'll save you!"

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:38

"Damn it! They're awake!" Taylor screamed, feeling movement above her. "We need to get out of here as fast as we can!"

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:37

Victoria scooped Taylor up, and Potter felt a little uneasy under the young fan's adoring gaze. They flew through the hole, Eric and Crystal Weasley, the twin brother and sister, already floating in the air, catching Amy, who waved hello to her friend. The five of them soared upward, toward the bright moon, followed by Sophia Dursley's furious scream.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 19:22

"You will pay for this, you naughty girl!"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 19:23

"Don't worry," Amy Taylor shouted, "Lisa will think of something!"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 19:23

Lisa Granger, Taylor's second best friend, possessed the superpower of a Thinker and was quite the inventor. Potter breathed a sigh of relief – she hadn't been forgotten!

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 19:24

"You can hug me around the neck," Victoria giggled in her ear, "it will be easier for you, and it will be more pleasant for me to carry you!"

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:27

"Haven't anyone told you that you're quite straightforward?" Taylor sighed in response.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:27

Victoria said nothing, just smiled, hummed, and giggled quietly all the way to the Weasleys' house, the so-called Loft.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:37

The Weasley house was unlike any other, and that was hardly surprising, as it was inhabited by capes, people with superpowers. The Loft had five floors and an attic, where one of Amy's first failed experiments rustled and howled. The Weasleys themselves jokingly nicknamed it a Ghoul, but overall, the creature was relatively harmless, meeting the requirements for an artificially bred creature (ABC) and cleaning the attic of dust, spiders, and flies. The house was adorned with numerous turrets, balconies, and landing pads — most of the Weasley capes could fly — and the vast garden surrounding the Loft was given a slight Stranger effect to distract people and cause them to pass by without noticing anything unusual. Here you could fly, relax, experiment with powers, talk about them, and just do whatever you wanted. The head of the family - Sarah Weasley - treated Taylor and Lisa like her children, in addition to the seven she already had.

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 19:30

Needless to say, Taylor liked life in the Weasley house much more than life in the Dursley house.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:26

* * *
August 12, 2022

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:17

Officially, the reason for visiting Toybox Alley was textbooks and supplies, but de facto, everyone was there to have fun and stretch, since there, in one of the pocket dimensions, they could show off their superpowers.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:24

"It didn’t work out this year, but come and visit me next summer,” Lisa said.

Camrad_RIP 08.01.26 в 21:25

"What about your dentist parents?" Taylor smiled. "How do they feel about you bringing two girls home?"

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 19:31

"Well, you don't think they'll immediately pull all your teeth out for this, do you?" Granger burst out laughing. "And besides, I'm Thinker, I'll think of something. It won't be boring, believe me! Oops, sorry, Taylor, I didn't mean to remind you of the events of this summer. So, I've been digging through your tablet, studying the videos and so on, and I can tell you straight: it's clear that this case is unclear."

Camrad_RIP 09.01.26 в 19:32